


Promises

by zarabithia



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Historical, F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-07
Updated: 2014-11-07
Packaged: 2018-02-24 10:16:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2577905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zarabithia/pseuds/zarabithia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve wants to be a knight. But that isn't the path he's meant to take.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Promises

**Author's Note:**

> So someone on tumblr asked “which one of your OTP is a knight and which one is the potion seller” and I got distracted by Steve feels. 
> 
> Source for [ Sarah’s blessing](http://www.beliefnet.com/Inspiration/2009/02/Irish-Blessings-for-Luck.aspx). Source for [ Sarah’s words to Steve. ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Z7pGFqX374)

Steve wanted to be a knight. More than anything, he wanted to wear the armor and fight the righteous battles that King Thor waged against the Stark Empire.

But he was not born with the body of a knight. 

"Things will grow, if you give ‘em time," his mother tells him, and Steve waits for it to be true. But his legs do not grow, his chest only seems to shrink when he’s trying to repeat the knightly drills that he can see from his mother’s cottage, and he never gains the body of a knight. 

Steve stays at his mother’s cottage and he helps her sell her herbs to strangers, neighbors, and friends. He listens to travelers tell stories of far away lands that Steve will never see, because his legs did not grow to allow him to become the knight he wishes to be. 

"You could, perhaps, have other talents," one of his mother’s customers tells him one day. Wise old Erskine works at the palace and offers to take Steve as his apprentice.

"I will miss you, but your destiny is beyond what I can give you. I have always known that, even if you doubt it," Steve’s mother tells him and she kisses him on the forehead. She whispers, "May you always have…  
Walls for the winds, A roof for the rain, Tea beside the fire, Laughter to cheer you, Those you love near you, And all your heart might desire.” 

It is an old, familiar blessing that has been true except for the last. Steve kisses his mother, promises he’ll write, and goes away with wise old Erskine. 

This is how Steve begins his life as a dealer of potions to the King. It is a life that gives him access to many knights (between the temperamental wizards and passionate royals). Although some are not as splendid as he imagined, many are even more so. 

The first knight he falls in love with is named James. James comes to Erskine in need of potions to fix his wounded arm. Steve helps bottle the potions and suggests that he talk with Prince Loki instead, because he is a talented wizard. James laughs and tells him that nobody ever goes to Loki unless they really have to. 

James is not the first to warm Steve’s bed, but he is the first to do so within the wide open spaces of the palace’s walls. He is the first to look upon Steve as though he is a gift, and not merely someone to share a fun night with. Steve loves his fun, his temper, and his desire to do the right thing; Steve wishes he could go with James when he leaves. 

"I will return," James promises. 

But the battlefield claims him and he does not. 

The second knight that Steve falls in love with is named Margaret, and she comes to Erskine to gain potions to help her horse. Steve goes with her to help administer the potion to the horse’s sore foot. Margaret’s wavy black hair tumbles down her back when she joins him in his chambers; later she lies on her side and tells him stories of being a Lady in the Stark Court before running away to serve King Thor. Steve loves her righteousness and certainty and he wishes he could run away with her. 

"It won’t be that long til I come back," she promises. "And we will have a future full of dancing and beautiful children." 

So Steve waits.

And he waits.

And years pass and Margaret does not return.

Steve promises himself that he will never love another knight, because it is hard waiting in the palace for someone who will never return.

Steve keeps his word, because Samuel is not a knight. 

Samuel has never wanted to be a knight. He has always wanted to deal in the potions that Erskine deals with and he departs Dr. Strange’s cottage with the knowledge that he can help more people through working with the king’s head potion dealer than he can in a country doctor’s cottage. Steve falls in love with Samuel because Samuel is kind, brave, and wants to help others more than anything else, but also because he tells Sir Brock to shut the hell up. Samuel’s room is adjacent to Steve’s, but this is redundant, because Steve moves into Samuel’s chambers and does not look back. 

"I will never leave you," Samuel promises.

And he doesn’t.

Later, Margaret comes back, and her promises are kept too. 

~~~


End file.
